Debt of Nature
by paletteEquilibrist
Summary: She was going to make sure Tsukiyama gets through this okay. (Tokyo Ghoul AU)


"Flower Man…" Hinami murmurs, hugging her legs close to her body. She watches the sky slowly illuminate as the sun began to ascend over the horizon. The young girl had sat vigil next to the prone ghoul who she had grown to care for.

She glances over to Tsukiyama with furrowed brows before hesitantly reaching over and gently petting his head.

"Onii-chan wouldn't want to see you like this…" the ghoul whispers hoarsely as she strokes his coarse hair. She remembered a time when it was as smooth as silk. How could it change in such a little amount of time?

She knew the reason why.

But she couldn't hold a grudge, no matter how much she wanted to hate, loathe, detest, besiege the CCG. Just like how she couldn't hold a grudge against Mado, the man who killed her father and mother.

Some would think it noble, to find forgiveness for the people who wronged her, but she just found it sad. Sad that she didn't have the will to fight back, to fight for justice. After all, her mother and father did nothing wrong.

Hinami looks down at the streets below, watching the few awake humans shuffle around after their peaceful slumber. She tilts her head up at the sky, eyeing the fading stars before turning her head toward her newly-proclaimed charge.

She needs to take him home. And that wasn't going to be easy.

So far, the older ghoul had be unresponsive this entire time, so the young teen would have to manually move him. She hesitates - Tsukiyama looked kind of heavy… Using her koukaku kagune would attract way too much attention.

Maybe she could call Banjou? No, his relationship was rocky with the gourmet at best. Plus, he must also be mourning for his missing (he's missing. He's not _gone_, she tells herself) friend and leader.

She considers her options and decides to try and drag the man to a cab - He must have some money in his pockets, right? She hesitantly sifts through the high-class ghoul's pockets and was shocked to find that, contrary to popular belief, Tsukiyama did not carry 10,000 yen bills around as pocket change.

Hinami lets out a nervous sound as she looks around, trying to find a different way to get Tsukiyama back to the house.

"H-hey, Flower Man. You wanna go home?" She attempts to get the older ghoul to respond. Not a twitch. She turns her attention to the streets below and watched the few people leave the area.

She really didn't know what to do besides this. And this was going to get her killed. She gathers her courage and wills her kagune to take shape. The petal-like koukaku materializes before slowly drawing closer to the man to gently lift him up. Or what she hoped was gentle. She was still trying to get used to her kagune after all.

She wrapped him up tight with the petals and began making her way back down to the ground. Every five seconds she sniffed the air and strained her ears, making sure she could not smell nor hear anybody approaching.

Surprisingly, it was easy to avoid the few people wandering the streets. All she had to do was duck around corners when she noticed a human nearby. Soon, before the majority of the populace even got out of their beds, Hinami had managed to haul the man near their home.

The young lady walks into their house, dragging Tsukiyama behind her on her back. A block down from their "base", Hinami had decided to manually carry the gourmet into their home, just incase someone stumbled upon the sight of the two. Of course, the area where they reside was remote, so not many people would have been around even if they were awake.

Now that she thinks about it, she doesn't know why she even bothered hauling the man the block. Not many people even think of coming near this part of the city.

She set the man on the couch (after all, he doesn't have a room in the home and Banjou and his group probably wouldn't like the man in their rooms) and wandered over to the kitchen. She began to make coffee for Tsukiyama and went over to the fridge to find some meat - hopefully there was some left.

There wasn't.

Hinami sighs in frustration and migrates back over to the living room area and sat down on a chair opposite of the other ghoul. Left with the sound of brewing coffee and her thoughts, she looks down at her lap.

As she had expected, Banjou and his band of ghouls were elsewhere, not wanting to remember the fate of their leader. She wishes she could have that blessing.

Instead, all she got was the memory and scent of her big brother. God, the scent…

It was a unique aroma, and it wafted around the air like perfume. It stained the bookshelves and leaked out from under the crack of his bedroom door. It was suffocating - she wished she could open a window to release the pent up and overpowering fragrance.

But if she did that, she would be losing another link to Kaneki, and he did not leave that many things behind to remember him by.

She moves back to the kitchen and retrieves a mug and pouring a cup of coffee for Tsukiyama. Hopefully he will respond to her prodding and _do_ something. Anything, really.

After some consideration, she gets herself a coffee cup and pours herself some, too. She had gotten thirsty after all that manual labour and the overuse of her kagune.

The calming smell of coffee relaxed her muscles and a small smile graced her lips. She carries the two cups to the living room and set one of them on the coffee table. She settles down onto a chair and cradles the warm cup in her hands up to her face. She closes her eyes and lets the scent of home wash over her before taking a small sip of the coffee.

Minutes pass before she opens her eyes, a hardened look to them. She was going to make sure Tsukiyama gets through this okay.

After all, he was one of the last people she had left.

And she was going to make sure he wasn't going to leave her alone any time soon.

* * *

**Author's Note: I wrote this before Tokyo Ghoul:re came out and I just remembered that I wrote this! So I fixed it up (kind of) and I guess I'm publishing this lol. Pretend this is an AU or something haha.**


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